Archive for the ‘characteristics’ Category

In my opinion a good book must be long and take a long time to write and read. The author has to spend all his or her time planning out the plot so it flows perfectly. The reason people call them storybooks is because they are stories! Many authors keep publishing the same stories over an over, but under different disguises. A good book is always original and the story will add something to our world. These are the five characteristics of a good/perfect book:

Can relate to readers: Most people don’t enjoy reading about a perfect person or a story about someone crazy, they want to hear a story about someone who is troubled and has problems, as all people have problems. The protagonist cannot be perfect or evil, but maybe one of the antagonists could. Although sometimes good stories don’t always relate to the reader, they have small but important elements that do. If a story doesn’t relate to you, the chances are that you won’t be reading it.

Mystery and Suspicion: All of my favorite stories involve mystery and suspicion. “Who is that bad guy is it Bob the kind deli manager who seems preoccupied all the time? Or Sam the egomaniac lawyer?” You have to make your choice, good books get you thinking and analyzing every little detail. You are suspicious of every character and even if you think you’ve found the bad guy you have to keep reading cause you could be wrong.

Setting: When I read a book, I always imagine what it would look like to be in the story. Weather it be a dark, dirty city street or the humid loud amazon rain forest, I always have to see what I’m reading. As you read more books, you’ll find that the books with less setting, tend to confuse you and you are lost thinking about the setting trying to get your place when you should actually be thinking about mystery and suspicion in the story. Without a setting, the book doesn’t feel right and it is not so much the authors creation but yours because you have to create the setting for yourself.

Plot and Events: The story must be epic, have many big events and turning points as well as many suspicious activities in different locations. The main character should know just as little as you do, it’s like you are a team thinking the same things and working together. When something gets bad and you don’t think it could get worse, it does! Near the end of the story when you think it’s all done, someone dies. Hows that for a cliffhanger? You have to be excited for the next book.

Doesn’t ramble: I don’t like it when books get too caught up in small talk. Thats why I stopped reading Harry Potter at book 5, I read up to 300 pages and they spent 30 pages rambling about something stupid and boring. I want action every 10 pages. For people like me with naturally low attention spans it take a lot of discipline to read through 30 pages of blabber.

But most of all, a good book will be enjoyable to read even if you don’t like to read. Some writers do this and others aren’t good enough.